Venezuela’s top court imposed a US$10 million fine on TikTok over viral challenges that killed three children and injured dozens of people in recent months.
In a Monday ruling, the court said the social media company should pay the fine to the country’s telecommunications agency within the next 10 days. It also ordered TikTok, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, to establish an office in Venezuela.
The court summoned TikTok officials to appear last month to address the deaths of three children, aged 12, 13 and 14, after they took part in challenges that Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said included ingesting, inhaling and spreading “dangerous mixes” of chemicals.
The judges said TikTok shared responsibility for its “lack of timely control” of the challenges on its platform. Money from the fine will go towards a compensation fund for victims, they said.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Maduro has attacked social media platforms such as TikTok and WhatsApp on the heels of a wave of repression by his regime against resistance to his self-declared win in July’s presidential election.